Disclaimer: This website does not encourage or discourage vaccination. The SmartVax website is intended to be a tool to assist parents in making an individualized vaccine schedule. Every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy, but SmartVax cannot foresee every possible circumstance that might arise. Individuals using this website should be aware of this limitation and should be prepared to read further research in order to fully understand the choices they are making. This website is not intended to be medical advice. SmartVax is not responsible for individual medical decisions, and use of the information on this website is solely at your own risk.

Each vaccine has different risks and benefits in regards to infectious disease and vaccine-injury. The CDC has a USA 2011 recommended immunization schedule for children ages 0-6 can be viewed at this link: CDC 2011 Recommended Immunization Schedule ages 0-6.

There are many different manufacturers of vaccines, and some vaccines are combination vaccines (for example, the Pediarix vaccine combines HepB, DTaP, and Polio into one vaccine). Below is a link to download an Excel spreadsheet that can be used to define an individualized vaccine schedule for your child. Please note that the Excel spreadsheet contains a macro that enables it to update properly when you input your choices, so you will need to allow macro’s when opening the file. To define your individualized vaccine schedule:

Call your child’s pediatrician to determine which vaccines they use (for example, do they use the the ActHib, Hiberix, or PedVaxHib vaccine for the Hib shots on the schedule?)

Read the links in the spreadsheet to A SmartVax Approach to assist you in determining whether you should choose to vaccinate for each vaccine type and if so which month you choose to begin

In the spreadsheet, populate ‘y’ into the column for each vaccine series you choose to vaccinate with, and then ‘y’ next to the manufacturer’s vaccines that your pediatrician provides. You’ll note that when a manufacturer’s vaccine is chosen for a particular vaccine type (e.g. Engerix-B for HepB), the other vaccines for that vaccine type are grayed out. Also if you choose two vaccines that would cause overvaccination, e.g. two different vaccines that contain DTaP), those rows containing those vaccines will turn red to indicate that you need to deselect one of the vaccines.

Then for each manufacturer’s vaccine chosen, choose the month to begin the vaccine series. Once you choose the initial month to begin each vaccine series, the spreadsheet automatically populates the booster shots in that series based upon the time spacing recommended by the CDC.

Save the spreadheet to your computer, and print it out to take with you to the pediatrician visit. If you are not vaccinating for certain vaccines or starting vaccination at a later month that recommended by the CDC, call your pediatrician’s office to discuss before the visit.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is one of the leading voices for maximizing vaccination, and pediatricians often base their individual views on information provided to them by the AAP. The AAP organization has publicized information to its members on how pediatricians can refuse to accept patients who don’t vaccinate per the CDC schedule. Because a pediatrician’s license to practice medicine is often partly based upon being in good standing with the AAP, your pediatrician can be rightly concerned about being too open towards a SmartVax approach. Despite that pressure, there are prominent pediatricians who openly discuss a smarter approach to vaccinations such as Dr. Bob Sears (author of “The Vaccine Book”) and Dr. Jay Gordon (author of “Vaccinations? Assessing the Risks and Benefits”).

It’s important to find a pediatrician who is willing to have a smart and balanced discussion about the risks and benefits of vaccination, rather than propagating common misconceptions about vaccines (see Vaccine Misconceptions), and is willing to agree to an alternative vaccination schedule if that is what you determine is best for your child. There are some questions that can help you to ascertain whether the pediatrician is open to a SmartVax approach; if so, there are other questions you should ask to determine the policies and procedures of the pediatrician’s practice. Download the file below, review the questions, and then take them with you to ask at the pediatrician’s visit.

Notes regarding vaccine exemption: You do not need a vaccine exemption form when you visit the pediatrician, but will need a vaccine exemption form when your child is ready to go into daycare or public school. Most states have a ‘philosophical exemption’ that can be signed by the parent if some or all vaccines are being delayed or avoided. Several states have a ‘religious exemption’, which can be used similarly to the ‘philosophical exemption’. You should only involve your pediatrician if you are seeking a ‘medical exemption’, which would generally only be signed by the pediatrician in limited cases involving known allergies to certain components of vaccines. For more information on vaccine exemptions, go to the National Vaccine Information Center.